Pope
Francis: US-Russia alliance ‘dangerous’

Pope
Francis issued a stark warning against “dangerous” international
alliances, including between the U.S. and Russia, on Saturday.

The
Pope said that he was afraid of "very dangerous alliances among
[foreign] powers that have a distorted vision of the world: America
and Russia, China and North Korea, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin
and [Syrian President Bashar] Assad in the war in Syria."

He
spoke to the Italian daily newspaper la Repubblica, as reported by
Reuters.

The
Roman Catholic leader’s comments come days after President Trump
and Putin held their first official meeting at the G-20 summit in
Hamburg. Trump on Sunday proposed working with Russia on a "cyber
security unit" to address cybersecurity.

There
is also ongoing controversy over alleged ties between the Trump
campaign and Kremlin that may relate to the FBI and congressional
probes into 2016 Russian election meddling.

The
pope and Trump have voiced their differences with each other in the
past.

When
asked in 2016 about then-candidate Trump’s proposal to build a wall
along the U.S.-Mexico border, the pope appeared to imply Trump was
not a Christian.

Trump
called the religious leader's comments “disgraceful.”

However,
the two leaders held a quiet face-to-face in May at the Vatican,
taking part in a 30-minute meeting.